You can run Rebex Buru SFTP Server and its Web Administration tool as standalone command-line applications without installing them as Windows services. This is useful for running the server from a USB stick, within scripts, or in other portable environments.

Start the server

Download the portable .zip package from the official download page, extract it, and open Command Prompt in the extracted directory.

The quickest way to get started is the interactive wizard, which initializes the environment, offers to register the Windows service, and creates the first user:

burusftp.exe install

To script the setup instead, run the individual commands:

:: Generate SSH host keys and default configuration files.
burusftp.exe init

:: Create the first user (prompts for a password).
burusftp.exe user add alice --root-dir "C:\Users\alice" -p --web-admin enable

:: Run the server in the current console.
burusftp.exe run

The server is now accepting SFTP connections on port 22. Connect using the username and password you set above.

To register the server as a Windows service instead of running it in the console, see Register portable version as a service.

The server looks for its configuration files in a config folder located in the application directory (for example, D:\burusftp\config). See Configuration for details.

Start the Web Administration

To use the web-based management interface, start it in a separate console window:

burusftpwa.exe run

By default, the Web Administration tool is accessible at http://localhost:8880.

Upgrade

To upgrade to a newer version:

1. Download the new version and back up your current configuration folder.
2. If you have the services installed and running, stop them:

   burusftp svc stop
   burusftpwa svc stop

   You must run the Command Prompt or PowerShell as an Administrator to stop services.

3. Unzip the contents of the new package directly over your existing installation, overwriting the old files.
4. Run burusftp init to validate your configuration files:

   burusftp init

5. If you stopped the services in step 2, start them again with burusftp svc start and burusftpwa svc start:

   burusftp svc start
   burusftpwa svc start

Upgrading from version 1.x

Version 2.x renamed the service executables and service names, so a full reinstall is needed. Check the 2.0.0 release notes for all breaking changes.

1. Unregister the old services in your version 1.x directory:

   buru uninstall

2. Extract the version 2.x portable version to a new, different location on your server.
3. Copy your old configuration files (such as config.yaml and users.ldb) to the new configuration directory. These files are generally backwards compatible.
4. Run burusftp init to validate your configuration files:

   burusftp init

5. If you previously had services registered, install them under the new names with burusftp svc install and burusftpwa svc install:

   burusftp svc install
   burusftpwa svc install

6. Start the services with burusftp svc start and burusftpwa svc start:

   burusftp svc start
   burusftpwa svc start